


Something wicked this way comes

by GaneWhoo



Series: Supercat prompts and Co [17]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Minor Character Death, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 18:18:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10769754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaneWhoo/pseuds/GaneWhoo
Summary: « She reaches for the phone and picks up, already asking “Kara. What’s wrong, are you okay?”[...]“I’m okay, Cat. I’m okay but … I’m in the hospital.” Kara starts and she sounds anxious, there’s an unusual edge in her usually bubbly and sweet voice. Cat’s heart drops again in her chest and she’s thinking irrationally for a few seconds, before remembering that Kara can’t go to a regular hospital. The realization makes her frown.“Did you blow up your powers again?” She asks and it’s a little sharper than she wanted to sound.“Hum no I’m actually here as Kara Danvers-Grant this time … Cat, it’s your mother. She’s just been rushed into the ER.” Kara answers, slowly. »





	Something wicked this way comes

It’s her quiet but persistent ringtone, that wakes her up.

She groans, out of reflex, before opening her eyes and looking at the numbers on the digital clock atop of her nightstand. It takes almost a full minute for her vision to stop being blurry with sleep and when she can finally make out the time, she stares.

It’s 4 am on a Sunday morning.

Her first thought is for Carter and she instantly feels her heart squeeze in her chest. It takes her two seconds to remember he’s sound asleep in his bedroom, at the end of the hallway.  
It’s only then that she can breathe again.

The sound stops and she looks at her phone with a frown between her eyes. It rings again barely a minute later and she recognizes the ringtone this time. It’s a part of the song Over the rainbow, sung by Kara herself. Cat had recorded it without being seen on one evening when she had come home earlier than planned. Kara had been singing while cooking and Cat hadn’t been able to resist it.

Since then, it’s the ringtone for when Kara call.

Which she is doing right now, Cat realizes as she stares at the picture of Kara’s smile displayed on her screen. She reaches for the phone and picks up, already asking “Kara. What’s wrong, are you okay?”

She still can’t shake the feeling of fear whenever Kara flies out of the window to save the day. Even though she is well aware that her lover is gifted with many superpowers, like being bulletproof for example, she worries and she’s never at peace until Kara is back in her line of sight.

“I’m okay, Cat. I’m okay but … I’m in the hospital.” Kara starts and she sounds anxious, there’s an unusual edge in her usually bubbly and sweet voice. Cat’s heart drops again in her chest and she’s thinking irrationally for a few seconds, before remembering that Kara can’t go to a regular hospital. The realization makes her frown.

“Did you blow up your powers again?” She asks and it’s a little sharper than she wanted to sound.

“Hum no I’m actually here as Kara Danvers-Grant this time … Cat, it’s your mother. She’s just been rushed into the ER.” Kara answers, slowly.

Cat blinks and takes a look at her phone, wondering if she’s heard Kara right. She frowns and then puts it back against her ear.

“I’m sorry, did you just say my mother has been admitted in a hospital?” She asks while looking at her clock and wondering if she’s still asleep and only dreaming that improbable conversation.

“Yes.” Kara simply answers and Cat blinks again. She sees the minute change, going from 4:25am to 4:26am. Kara takes her silence as an invitation.

“She’s in town for the week, something about an author throwing a big thank you party and she’s the guest of honor … A big fancy dinner really, with cocktail dresses, tuxedos, lots of champagne and French food … Apparently, she had a stroke towards the end, before dessert.” Kara explains, slowly. Her voice is calm and neutral, the unusual edge is gone. “They tried to call you but you wouldn’t answer so … they called me. I have no idea how they found out my number but they did. I was coming home after having handed an alien to the DEO when I got the call, I went straight in the hospital and I’ve been trying to call you ever since.”

Cat stays silent, contemplating the strange calm that took over as soon as Kara talked about a stroke.

She thinks life, and death, have a strange sense of humor.

She’s always thought that her mother would die like she’s lived, in a grand show, making a lot of noise and holding on to her audience. She’s expected some kind of very rare and very long disease that would make Katherine looks like a martyr, something the woman could shove into everyone else’s face.  
After having suffered for so many years of her mother’s omnipresence, Cat never thought her mother, the person she often calls the wicked witch of the East, could just be gone in a matter of minute.

“Cat? Babe, are you still there?” Kara asks and her voice is soft and tender. Cat focuses on it.

“I’m here, I’m just … Surprised.” Cat settles for that word after a slight hesitation. It’s the truth, after all. She’s not angry, she’s not shocked, she’s not even worried, not in the slightest.

“Uh … Do you want me to send a car to pick you up or … or do you want to stay at home and I will call you as soon as I know more about her condition?” Kara offers and Cat is tempted to jump on that solution. She knows it’s planned, of course. Kara thinks she’s being subtle but Cat just knows it.

“I’ll be there in half an hour. I just need to wake up Carter and …” Cat trails off, a little unsure of what to do with her son. She doesn’t want to submit him to the stress of the situation and she absolutely doesn’t want him to ever put a foot in a hospital if he doesn’t need to.

“Alex offered to come and keep an eye on him, that way you don’t even have to wake him up. She’s waiting for your text, she’s in the neighborhood.” Kara supplies and Cat marvels at Kara’s ability to always anticipate her every needs. She shouldn’t be surprised by now, not after their five years of marriage and seven years of being a couple.  
“Oh, that would be ideal yes. Although, I will wake him up to let him know what’s happening. I don’t want him to wake up to find Alex in the penthouse without having explained anything to him.” Cat replies and she can hear Kara’s hum of approval.

“Okay babe, I’ll see you soon then. I will text you the information you need to find me and if I learn anything in the meantime.” Kara says and Cat hears a shuffling noise in the background. She narrows her eyes and purses her lips.

“Kara, are you filling my mother’s medical paperwork?” She asks and it sounds threatening, she means it.

“Hum, I, well, I know everything and I, you know … I figured, you know, that way it’d be something you won’t have to do?” The girl of steel stammers and stutters and Cat can’t help the smile that comes grace her lips. She wants to be mad at Kara for being so helpful and kind to someone who doesn’t deserve it but she knows it’s in her lover’s nature. It’s just how Kara is.

“Fine.” Cat sighs. “I’ll be there soon.”

“I love you.” Kara simply answers and she hangs up before Cat can reply.

—

In the car driving her to the hospital, Cat only sighs.

Carter had been unhappy to be forced to stay in the penthouse when she had explained the situation to him. She swears he’s got something of Kara, sometimes.  
He’s kind, generous and his endless capacity to forgive always takes her aback. She doesn’t understand how he could forgive all the years his grandmother had missed on, the cold birthday cards, the absurd presents, the last minute cancellations and Katherine Grant’s whole attitude, barbs and criticism included.

Her phone buzzes with a text and she smiles at the picture Alex just sent. It shows Carter, sound asleep on the couch and the TV in the background is playing The Wizard of Oz.  
It has become Carter’s favorite movie, ever since he listened to Kara explain why she loved it so much. Cat herself had warmed up to the film.

The realization suddenly hits her that she doesn’t have one single happy memory of her childhood with her mother. She has some with her father, snapshots of happiness that keeps her company when she feels lonely or nostalgic but she has none with her mother.

Cat lets out a dry chuckle.

She’s come to accept the fact Katherine Grant never loved her.

—

“She’s still in surgery, they say they need to give her a new heart and …” Kara explains but she stops when Cat laughs. It’s so out of place, in the glowing waiting room of National City’s Hospital, that a few people frown at them and the looks thrown their way are outraged.

“Cat?” Kara asks, confused and a little alarmed. Cat is still smiling when she focuses on Kara, taking in the worry in the deep, deep blue eyes, the anxious frown above them and the way she was biting her bottom lip, a tell-tale of concern.

“It’s funny that she would need a new heart … I wasn’t aware she had one in the first place.” Cat smirks but her tone is devoid of all trace of humor. It makes Kara think twice before speaking again. She looks nervous this time, Cat notices.

“Hum … They don’t have any … compatible heart at the moment so …” Kara winces when Cat starts laughing again and this time, they both hear the disapproving grumble of a few people. Kara swallows and then finishes “She might not make it out alive, Cat.”

Cat tilts her head to the side and she looks right into Kara’s incredibly blue eyes. She sees worry, she sees love and she sees patience, with a sparkle of anticipation. It looks like Kara, sweet, lovely, incredible Kara, is waiting for something and Cat frowns because she can’t think of what.

Then, it hits her.

The full weight of life.

It falls on her shoulders and takes her breath away. She feels her heart stop, her mind goes blank and some white stars blurry her vision. It makes her knees wobble.

Kara’s there, in a split-second, putting her arms around Cat’s waist and Cat clings to her, curling her shaky fingers in the back of her wife’s pale blue shirt and holding on to it for dear life.

She realizes, in the middle of her panic attack, that she is not ready to let go of all her questions, all her regrets and all that desperate need to know she is actually loved.

—

She falls asleep around 6am, curled in Kara’s arms on one of the uncomfortable plastic couches that fill the hallways and the waiting rooms across the whole hospital.

She doesn’t sleep well.

Her slumber is full of images that come straight from her memories and it’s half a dream, half a souvenir and it’s never happy. It often ends up with her being sad, frustrated or desperate for her mother’s approval, her mother’s affection, her mother’s attention. It’s all about her mother and when she wakes up at exactly 7:15am, she feels weak, confused and lost. She hates it.  
She leaves the comfort of Kara’s arms to go search for a coffee.

Kara doesn’t try to stop her.

She’s in the cafeteria and narrowing her eyes at the coffee choices when her phone starts ringing. Hit me with your best shot is the ringtone Carter had selected for Alex and the picture shows a funny picture of The Scarecrow, from the Wizard of Oz musical. Kara had been the one to put that image up to replace Cat’s initial choice of a Keep calm and pick up meme.

“Yes Alex? Is Carter okay?” Cat asks immediately, a little worried about her son.

“Relax, Carter is still asleep, I managed to carry him to his bed and he’s still sound asleep. I am making pancakes but I haven’t heard from you guys for a while so I was just … checking in. Are you okay, Cat?” Alex asks, rather bluntly but Cat is used to it by now. She actually finds Alex’s attitude refreshing.

“So far, nothing and yes, I’m all right, thank you.” Cat answers, a little on edge because she’s exhausted, anxious and ready to kill for a coffee.

“Listen, I know you have a shitty relationship with your mother.” Alex never tries to embellish things, it’s a wonder how Kara can be so sweet with a sister so brutally honest sometimes.

“She’s in a bad shape and she might not get out alive but Cat, it’s okay if you don’t forgive her. It’s okay. You don’t have to erase years and years of unhappiness and bad memories just because she’s dying. Kara won’t tell you that, she’s probably going to try the opposite direction at some point and that’s why I wanted to call you. Whatever you feel, Cat, it’s valid and legit and it doesn’t have to change because she’s your mother and she might die.”

Cat stays silent for a while, taken aback by those words. Alex doesn’t push and it allows Cat to realize how true it is. She’s scared she’ll never know if her mother actually did love her at some point but Alex’s little speech makes her think she can live without that answer. She doesn’t need to act like everything is forgiven just because Katherine Grant might die.

“I … Thank you, Alex. I think you’re right, Kara might try to convince me I need to at least talk to her. She has a different point of view and we both know why that is.” Cat whispers, softly. She hears Alex’s groan of agreement.  
“Yes and it’s okay too. Whatever you want, whatever you need. Do what’s best for you, Cat. Not for a woman who made you feel like shit your whole life.” Alex states and Cat is torn between smirking or wincing at the bluntness this time. She opts for the first one.

“Thank you, Alex. I’m going to get a coffee now and I’ll call you if anything changes.” Cat says and once Alex has acknowledged her, she hangs up.

She’s calm, quiet and strangely at peace with herself when she comes back upstairs.

—

Katherine Grant dies at 8:30 on a Sunday morning.

She goes without any fanfare and her last words were for the host at the party, something about the low quality of the Champagne.

Cat thinks it’s typical.

She’s calm and quiet on the way back to the penthouse and she can feel Kara’s concern, it’s radiating around her like a halo of heat vision. She thinks she should say something but she has no idea of what.  
Cat doesn’t know what to say to ease her wife’s worries because she doesn’t feel anything.

Emptiness is the first word she can think of to describe her state of mind.  
She’s exhausted from too little sleep but not from her emotions because there isn’t one. No anger, no sadness, no bitterness, no fondness, she’s not even relieved. She probably should feel guilty for the last part.

She doesn’t.

—

“You don’t seem affected, at all.” Kara says and her voice is soft and tentative as she sits on the couch next to Cat.

They’re watching a movie Cat doesn’t even remember the title, nevermind the plot and Carter’s voice is echoing in the background, coming from the kitchen. He’s on the phone with Winn about a video game that just came.

“It’s because I’m not.” Cat’s answer is clear and true. Kara looks at her and she tilts her head to the side, wonder etched across her features.

“Kara, honey, I know you wanted me to at least try to talk to her in the end but … I don’t think I needed to. Katherine Grant was my mother yes, I know how you feel about this but you have to understand how I felt. What I had with my mother, it wasn’t just a bad relationship. It was deeper and worse than just a bad relationship, it left scars that I am still trying to overcome today, wounds that will never fully heal. I was, I still am, entitled to those emotions and I just didn’t see the point of pretending everything was fine just so she could die in peace.” Cat explains and she’s careful to be gentle and open because she knows how much of a sensitive spot it is for Kara.

“I was never the daughter she wanted me to be, I made peace with that fact a long time ago.” She finishes with a soft smile, without any trace of regret of bitterness.

Kara’s eyes seem to stare in the void for a moment but then she only shrugs and curls closer into Cat’s side.

Cat takes it as a sign they’re okay.

—

The funeral is quick and not many people show up.

It’s simple but elegant and the tombstone is beautiful.

On the way back to the penthouse, after all is said and done, Carter suddenly starts laughing uncontrollably.

Cat and Kara exchange a look of alarm and wonder.

Kara is about to ask if he’s all right when Carter just starts singing.

“ _Ding Dong! The Witch is dead … Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch! Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead …_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys,
> 
> This was sitting on my tumblr for a while and I thought I would put it there too. It's a take at how Cat would deal with her mother's death, considering how their relationship is broken beyond repair. I first intended to fix things between them but ... I went against my first idea and I decided to explore a more realistic end.
> 
> I hope it's okay. As always, feel free to come suggest a prompt on tumblr, I'm **lost-your-memory** there!
> 
> Let me know how you liked it?


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